POLICY NUMBER:
100-004
CAMPUS POLICY
Now is the tie for all good men to
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CHAPTER:
Administration/Organization
SUBJECT: Background Checks
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 26, 2012
OPR: Human Resources and Public Safety
VC:
Administration and Finance
SUPERSESSION: April 6, 2006; April 23, 2008
APPROVED: by Pamela Shockley-Zalabak,
Chancellor, on June 26, 2012.
POLICY:
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (“UCCS”) intends to maintain a safe and
productive educational, research, and employment environment. All Final Applicants and
current employees must consent to a Background Check in order to be considered for any
position or promotional opportunity.
I. AUTHORITY FOR CAMPUS POLICIES:
Authority for the creation of campus administrative policies is found in The Laws of the
Regents, 2007, Article 3 Section B.5(A) which states:
The chancellor of each campus shall be the chief academic and administrative
officer responsible to the president for the conduct of affairs of their
respective campus in accordance with the policies of the Board of Regents.
The chancellor shall have such other responsibilities as may be required by
these Laws, or regent policy, or as may be delegated by the president.
II. PURPOSE:
The purpose of this policy is to set forth the process for conducting Background Checks
on Final Applicants and current employees as well as to identify the type of Background
Check required.
III. DEFINITIONS:
Background Check: The process of gathering and reviewing criminal, civil, and/or
financial history records, license and educational verification, social security trace, and/or
reference checks.
Criminal History Background Check: The process of gathering and reviewing criminal
history records.
CHAPTER:
Administration/Organization
SUBJECT:
Background
Checks
POLICY:
100-004
EFFECTIVE:
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Educational Verification: Ensuring the applicant possesses all educational credentials
listed on the application, resume, cover letter, or otherwise cited. To be considered, all
degrees must be from an accredited university or college.
Employee: All full and part time individuals hired by UCCS to perform services for
UCCS, including, faculty, lecturers, classified staff, officer and university staff, student
employees, and temporary employees.
Final Applicant: A person who seeks employment with the university and who has been
interviewed by the hiring/appointing authority and is considered a finalist for the
position.
Financial History Background Check: The gathering and reviewing of financial history
records.
License Verification: Ensuring and verifying all licenses listed on the application,
resume, cover letter, or otherwise cited by the individual.
Reference Check: The process of contacting individuals who may reasonably be
expected to provide relevant information regarding a final applicant’s fitness for
university employment. This includes but is not limited to current and former employers,
companies, educational institutions, and personal references.
Regular Faculty: Instructor, Senior Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor,
and Professor.
Security Sensitive Responsibilities: Job responsibilities that include, but are not limited
to the following:
a. Patient care or child care,
b. Access to select agents, toxins, or controlled substances as defined by federal
and state law,
c. Access to master keys, electronic access to secured facilities or key access to
secured facilities or residential rooms other than where a student resides,
d. Entrustment of university vehicles,
e. Public safety enforcement support,
f. Access to student/employee personally identifiable information including, but
not limited to access to ISIS and HRMS,
g. Access to security sensitive data,
h. Cash handling and or authority or access to large sums of money,
i. Access to military or national security locations.
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Administration/Organization
SUBJECT:
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POLICY:
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Sex Offender Registry Check: Verifying that the individual does not have undisclosed
convictions of certain sex crimes in those jurisdictions where the individual has resided.
Social Security Trace: Verifying the individual’s social security number to confirm
identity.
IV. PROCEDURES:
A. The following table lists the type of Background Check required for Final Applicants
and current employees who are promoted, transferred or whose job duties change. All
Final Applicants and current employees must consent to and pass the Background
Check required prior to any final appointment, employment, promotion, or transfer.
Normal progression of Employees remaining in their same position, e.g., tenure
track faculty who are promoted from assistant professor to associate professor or
from associate professor to professor, or staff moving through normal progression in
non-supervisory, fiduciary, or security sensitive jobs within the same class series or job
family are not subject to a Background Check. In addition, classified staff who elect to
move to a position exempted from the state personnel system are not subject to a
Background Check provided the new position does not have additional supervisory,
fiduciary, or security sensitive responsibilities.
Table 1:
Type of Background Check
Sex Offender Registry as is provided
for in public record national
databases
Prior employment verification and
reference check (conducted by
hiring/appointing authority,
designee, or search committee)
Employee Type
All Final Applicants, current employees who are
promoted or transferred, volunteers, and contractors
(please see section ___of this policy).
All Final Applicants and current employees who are
promoted or transferred.
Officers of the University, Deans of Colleges,
Directors of Administrative Units.
Criminal History
All positions (including volunteers) with access to
security sensitive information, information technology,
financial resources and systems, academic student
records, and/or personnel records.
Regular, clinical and research faculty.
University Staff
Classified Staff
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Student Employees with responsibilities that include
information technology, academic student records,
personnel records access, financial responsibilities,
access to master keys, access to hazardous materials,
and unsupervised direct contact with students and/or
responsibility for children.
Officers of the University, Deans of Colleges,
Directors of Administrative Units.
Financial History Background Check
Motor Vehicle Record Check
License verification
All Final Applicants, current employees, and
volunteers with access to security sensitive
information, information technology, financial
resources and systems, academic student records,
and/or personnel records.
Other positions as may otherwise be determined by the
Hiring/Appointing authority in consultation with
Human Resources prior to job posting.
All Final Applicants and current employees whose
position may require driving. Recurrent motor vehicle
checks may be conducted at the discretion of the
appropriate University official.
All Final Applicants and current employees whose job
duties require a valid license.
All Final Applicants and current employees whose
position requires a specified level of education.
Educational verification
B. Contractors:
1. All contractors must conduct a Sex Offender Registry Check and Criminal
History Background Checks for its employees who will have Security
Sensitive Responsibilities or direct contact with students. All contract
employees must pass the Criminal History Background Check and Sex
Offender Registry Check in accordance with this policy.
2. All contractors who will have access to University financial resources must
conduct a Financial History Background Check on said employees and
employees must pass the Financial History Background Check in accordance
with this policy.
3. All contracts that involve Security Sensitive Responsibilities or unsupervised
direct contact with students must contain the following provision: Contractor
expressly acknowledges its duty to take reasonable precautions to protect
University employees, students, and affiliates. Possible precautions may
include conducting a background check on its employees. A contractor who
is required to conduct a Background Check on its employees must forward a
copy of the results to the Department of Public Safety (“DPS”) prior to
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beginning work. If the contractor does not conduct Background Checks,
their employee will be required to pass a Background Check conducted by
UCCS prior to beginning work at the contractor’s expense.
C. Volunteers:
Any person volunteering in a security sensitive department or performing security
sensitive duties is subject to a background check.
D. Nursing and Education Students Criminal History background check.
The Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences and the College of
Education are responsible for developing and administering background checks
for their students in accordance with state and federal laws.
E. Background Checks on Current Employees:
1. UCCS retains the right to conduct Background Checks on current employees
when it has reasonable grounds to do so, e.g., workplace violence incident or
when it is required to do so pursuant to state or federal laws, rules,
regulations, or change of assignment. All current employees are required to
notify their supervisor upon being charged with a felony or offense of moral
turpitude and upon final disposition. Supervisors are required to notify UCCS
Human Resources. Employees may be subject to an additional Background
Check upon the reporting of a charge and/or conviction.
2.Employees may be required to consent to post-appointment Background
Checks as deemed necessary by the appointing authority.
F. Any individual who has been hired, appointed or promoted and is subsequently found
to have provided false or misleading information related to a Background Check will
be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
G. The type of Background Check required must be determined prior to the posting of
the position. UCCS recruitment notices (job postings) must:
1. Provide notification that Final Applicants will be subject to a Background
Check.
2. Describe the type of Background Check required for the position.
3. UCCS will post a notice on its employment webpage that indicates a
Background Check will be conducted.
H. All Final Applicants for a position must complete the Personal History Questionnaire
and the Disclosure and Authorization to Release Information form authorizing UCCS
to conduct a Criminal Background Check. Candidates may also be required to sign a
release for a fair credit report and this may be a form that is provided to the employee
by the University’s third party background check contractor. The University will not
consider a candidate unless and until he/she returns all required authorizations. Once
the hiring decision is made, but prior to final offer to the candidate, the hiring
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authority will forward the Authorization to Release Information form to the
Department of Public Safety for background check processing.
I. The University will contract with an outside agency that qualifies as a Consumer
Reporting Agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U. S.C. Sec.
1681a et seq., and that or another agency that performs Criminal Background Check.
The University will authorize the agency to collect any information requested subject
to the terms of the FCRA. The agency will provide its standard completed form
(currently known as a Standard Report, but subject to change) with national,
statewide and federal search to the Department of Public Safety. Additional state by
state Background Checks will be done as the Office of Human Resources and the
hiring authority determines appropriate due to the unique history of the Final
Applicant or the Final Applicant’s position.
J. All such documentation will be maintained in confidential files within the
Department of Public Safety.
K. The Department of Public Safety will provide the results of the Background Check to
the appointing authority or the appointing authority’s designee only. In cases of
search processes, the information must not be released to the search committee.
L. The Final Applicant may not begin employment until the Background Check has been
completed and the appointing authority has reviewed the results and has determined
that the results are satisfactory. The Background Check generally should be
completed within two or three business days. If additional investigations are
conducted additional time may be required to complete.
1. Further, all letters of offer must have a statement indicating the offer of
employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check
and that background checks may be conducted during the course of the
employee’s employment with the University.
2. If a background check is conducted on a current employee, the employee must
be notified of the action by the supervising or appointing authority.
M. Costs incurred in conducting Background Checks are the responsibility of the hiring
department and/or the college.
N. Educational and employment verification, Reference Checks, and License
Verification (except motor vehicle license) are to be completed by the hiring
department.
V. PASS/FAIL CRITERIA:
A. An applicant will be considered to have passed the Criminal Background Check if
he/she meets all of the criteria listed below (unless otherwise prescribed by law or
rule for sensitive/licensed positions). Sealed records will not be accessed. A
conviction includes a verdict of guilty, a guilty plea, and Nolo Contendere (no
contest) plea . Deferred prosecution will be considered if the terms of the deferred
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Administration/Organization
SUBJECT:
Background
Checks
POLICY:
100-004
EFFECTIVE:
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prosecution are active at the time applicant applies for the position. The following
criteria must be met:
1.
2.
3.
No felony convictions for drug use or distribution in the ten (10) years
immediately preceding the submission of his/her application for
employment or promotion at UCCS.
No convictions for serious or violent felonies, including but not limited to
homicide or sexual assault (no time limit).
Where convictions other than those listed above are found, the jobrelatedness of the convictions will be determined by the hiring/appointing
authority with the concurrence of Human Resources and the appropriate
Associate/Vice Chancellor. The criteria to be considered in this analysis
include, but are not limited to:
a.
Whether the applicant disclosed the conviction on the application
form;
b.
The nature and seriousness of the offenses for which applicant was
convicted;
c.
The time that has elapsed since the conviction and/or the
completion of the sentence and any other remediation;
d.
The nature of the position including whether such convictions are
related to the position or involve security-sensitive responsibilities;
e.
In the case of current employees, job performance history;
f.
The hiring/appointing authority may allow Final Applicants to
provide responsive information regarding their record, including
evidence of rehabilitation, character references, educational
achievements, and the length of time since the last criminal
conviction or negative information, and other mitigating factors.
B. An applicant’s financial history will be looked at in its totality. Judgment, wage
garnishments, liens, orders for unpaid child support, collection information, current
and previous negative accounts, credit history, and past due accounts will be taken
into consideration.
C. An applicant will be considered to have passed the motor vehicle record check if
he/she meets all of the criteria listed below. Sealed records will not be accessed. A
conviction includes a verdict of guilty, a guilty plea, and Nolo Contendere (no
contest) plea. Deferred prosecution will be considered if the terms of the deferred
prosecution are active at the time applicant applies for the position. The following
criteria must be met:
1. No license suspensions in the five (5) years immediately preceding his/her
application for employment;
2. Where motor vehicle convictions are found, the job-relatedness of the
convictions and the motor vehicle record will be looked at in its totality with
final determination for hire made by the hiring/appointing authority with the
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CHAPTER:
Administration/Organization
SUBJECT:
Background
Checks
POLICY:
100-004
EFFECTIVE:
June 26, 2012
PAGE:
Page 8 of 9
concurrence of Human Resources and the appropriate Associate/Vice
Chancellor. The criteria to be considered in this analysis include, but are not
limited to:
a.
Whether the applicant has a current and valid driver’s license;
b.
The nature, demonstrated pattern, and seriousness of the offenses
for which applicant was convicted;
c.
The time that has elapsed since the motor vehicle conviction(s)
and/or the completion of the sentence and any other remediation;
d.
The nature of the position including whether such motor vehicle
convictions are related to the position;
e.
In the case of current employees, job performance history;
VI. APPLICANT RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS:
A. If the University does not offer a position to a Final Applicant or takes an
employment action against a current employee because of information obtained
through a Background Check, the University will provide the individual a notice. The
University will mail the notice to the address listed on the Final Applicant’s
Background Authorization Release, or for current employees, the address on record
with the Office of Human Resources. The notice will include the following:
1. The action that is being taken.
2. The basis for the action.
3. If applicable, a copy of the notice(s) sent to the University by the third party
vendor regarding any part of the background information which contributed to
the adverse action.
B. A Final Applicant or current employee who is denied an employment opportunity
based on information obtained as a result of the Background Check, who believes his
or her background information is not correct, may contact the consumer reporting
agency or other entities to provide correct information. However, the individual is not
eligible for hire or appointment to a position within the UCCS until the official
records confirm the correction to the information. The appointing authority may grant
five days to the individual to provide additional or mitigating information but, unless
the Chancellor makes a written exception, the appointing authority is not required to
stop the hiring or appointing process while the individual seeks to correct information
contained in his or her background report.
VII. The authority to grant exception to one or more of these policies and procedures is vested
with the Chancellor or his/her delegated representative(s).
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CHAPTER:
Administration/Organization
SUBJECT:
Background
Checks
POLICY:
100-004
EFFECTIVE:
June 26, 2012
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1. HISTORY: Established April 6, 2006, updated April 23, 2008 and
January 12, 2012
2. ATTACHMENTS/LINKS: subject to change independent of this
Policy
Personnel History Questionnaire, Disclosure and Authorization Form, and Summary
of Applicant Rights under the FCRA:
http://www.uccs.edu/~hr/web/atoz/formsaz.html#B
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